Blood
by SweetDeamon
Summary: It's the blood in his veins that causes him so much trouble. But Teddy Lupin is proud of his blood, even when it comes spilling out of his broken nose. Can Remus and Tonks help their son through his Hogwarts years or will his personal war rage on? AU.
1. Fight

_Note: Hi, this fic is AU in that Remus and Tonks survived the final battle, and...well the rest will be obvious from reading! I hope you like it, please feel free to brighten up my day with a review!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**1: Fight**

The boy gave an enraged shout and threw himself at his mocking opponent, bowling him to the ground and lashing out with his fists clenched into tight balls. The blows he dealt to the struggling boy beneath him were clumsy, anger clouding his accuracy but he didn't care, he simply had to hurt the insufferable brute as much as was physically possible. Other students had crowded around the pair and began cheering them on as the second boy fought back with equal ferocity.

From far above a man leaned against the stone banister at the top of the marble staircase, observing the scene below with a mixture of despair and pity. He ought go rushing down there to break up the brawl. Shout at the lot of them and sentence the two boys to a grueling number of detentions, he mused as the smaller of the two boys, who's hair was a tangled mess of bright crimson, let out a pained yelp as the other succeeded in smashing a fist into his nose.

It was his j_ob_, after all to stop such things.

Not to mention it probably made him a bad parent too if he did nothing.

But Remus Lupin did not move. He simply watched as his twelve year old son continued his frenzied attack on a fellow student, his nose now spewing blood as bright a red as his hair.

Suddenly there was a loud bang as sparks erupted from the wand of Minerva McGonagall as she came storming out of the Great Hall. Silence fell over the assembled students and in the center the two second years paused in their fighting.

"TEDDY LUPIN!!" The Headmistress bellowed as the crowd hastily parted to let her through. "ORION LYNCH!!" Reaching the middle of the crowd she seized both boys by the collar and yanked them to their feet. It was clear, Remus realized, that Minerva McGonagall was not the sort of witch who aged gracefully. No indeed, she seemed not to have aged _at all_ from the time of Remus' previous stint as a teacher some fifteen years earlier. As she lead the two children away down the corridor Remus watched Teddy glance over his shoulder and, upon seeing his father, turned quickly away again, hanging his head miserably. A number of students looked up to see what Teddy had seen and Remus forced a stern expression onto his face before turning and walking back towards his office. Once inside he went straight to the fireplace and reached for the pot of floo powder. Throwing a handful of the powder into the flames he knelt in front of the now emerald blaze and stuck his head into it's midst speaking clearly the destination.

"We're raising a bloody thirsty killer." He announced when a kitchen materialized in front of him.

From her position seated at the table surrounded by mounds of paperwork, his wife glanced over at the fireplace where her husband's head had suddenly appeared.

"No, Remus," She told him patiently. "We're raising a _child_."

"Third fight this month, Dora!" He reminded her bluntly.

"Like you didn't get into fights at school..." Her tone was decidedly dismissive.

"Not like this!" He forced himself to lower his voice as he said, "I know they get into fights, Dora, but we can't let him go on like this. He's a good boy, it isn't like him."

"It is just like him to stick up for his own father."

"Dora...!" His voice was so strained that she looked over at him once again and sighed deeply.

"You're right." She agreed quietly, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Merlin, what a mess this is turning into!" She sniffed and blinked back the tears that were threatening to leak from her eyes.

Tonks was, and always had been, immensely proud of her son. He was a clever, well mannered and hard working boy. In turn Teddy Lupin was equally as proud of his mother. Nobody had ever had any problem with that, it was Teddy's great pride in his father which caused him so much trouble. In his first year Teddy had simply ignored the teasing remarks of his fellow students, but since he had returned to Hogwarts for his second year two months previously he found the insults much fiercer and his tolerance to them had disappeared almost completely. Numerous fights had occurred ever since. However, today's had been the first one of his parents had witnessed first hand. What they had assumed were very much minor incidents were clearly getting more major by the day. It was clear to Remus, as he pulled his head from the fire some ten minutes later after attempting to comfort his wife who had failed to keep the tears at bay, that something would need to be done.

As he took as seat behind his desk and brushed the soot from his graying hair the door opened without any invitation and in wandered Teddy, eyes downcast and hair a morbid black. He walked silently forward and took a seat opposite his father, staring down at his shoes as he swung his feet up and down almost nervously. Remus' silent despair both saddened and worried him far more than McGonagall's shouting ever could.

"I think," Remus decided quietly, after a long and painful silence, "you and I need to have a little talk."


	2. The Map

_Note: Thank you very much to those of you who reviewed! This chapter is dedicated to **Someone aka Me**, for being the first to review this story!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**2: The Map**

Once Remus had launched into the speech which is well known and rehearsed by all parents both magical and muggle the world over, Teddy couldn't help but get the impression that his father wasn't quite prepared to talk about what had happened. He was making lots of rather vague statements, such as "your mother and I did not bring you up to behave like that" and "I expected better of you." Eventually he trailed off into silence and sighed deeply.

Teddy said nothing.

"You know," Remus said after another long silence, "hexes and fist fights won't make you feel better in the long run. It's only a matter of time before the cycle starts all over again."

Teddy folded his arms tightly across his chest.

"Can't help it." He mumbled, without meeting his father's eye. "You didn't hear them..."

"I'm sure I can imagine, though." Remus interrupted. "There is a great deal of prejudice out there, Teddy, but I can't say I ever drew my wand on anybody because of that. If I can manage it, don't you think you ought to, too?"

Again there was silence as Teddy considered what Remus had said. It made him feel worse. How on earth could people be so horrible about his father when he had an attitude like that? Tears began to gather in his eyes and he didn't bother to try and stop them trickling down his face. He sniffed and wiped the tears on the sleeve of his robes.

"Come over here, Teddy." Remus said softly, reaching to pull open a draw in the desk.

Teddy got slowly to his feet and shuffled over to his father's side. He watched as Remus rummaged through the bits of parchment inside before drawing out a particularly old and scrawny piece, it's surface creased and it's corners dog-eared and torn.

Teddy stared in surprise as his father placed the parchment onto the desk in front of him and closed the drawer.

"Is...is that...?" Excitement bubbled up inside him and despite himself Teddy couldn't help but push other issues to the back of his mind.

In reply Remus reached and plucked his son's wand from a robe pocket and offered it to him. Teddy snatched the wand up enthusiastically, before pausing.

"What...what do I...?"

Producing his own wand, Remus placed it's tip to the center of the parchment and, his expression one of extreme pride, announced:

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Teddy watched in fascination as ink began to appear and spread itself across the parchment, a maze of lines going off in all directions. The corridors of Hogwarts School were being drawn before his very eyes.

"I thought Harry had it." He managed as his father too watched the Marauders' Map appear. Remus couldn't help but look smug.

"He gave it back to me. He said it seemed fitting I should have it, me being the last of the Marauders. Anyway, just think of the chaos that would ensue if James gets hold of it when he starts Hogwarts! No, I think it's better off here. With you."

And with that he picked the map up and pushed it into his son's hand. Before Teddy could express his excitement verbally however, Remus had placed both of his hands on his son's shoulders and was looking at him straight in the eyes.

"You _will not_ sneak out of the castle. And you _will not_ wander around at night when you should be in bed." He said sternly.

Teddy was about to remind him that as a boy Remus had done not much else besides those things, but the look on his father's face was so serious that he thought better of it.

"You can, of course, use the map to avoid people." Remus continued, and a smile crept upon his face.

Teddy grinned back, and his hair brightened quite suddenly to a dazzling shade of turquoise as he threw his arms around his father.

"This is so great!" He exclaimed as Remus hugged him back. "You're the best, Dad!"

Remus _hmmed_ thoughtfully.

"This doesn't solve any problems in lessons." He said when Teddy finally saw fit to release him. "But you can't hide away the whole time. It is important not to take what people say to heart." Once again he looked at his son straight in the eyes. "You stand tall, Teddy Lupin, knowing that people can be ignorant, and that you are not. Don't stoop to their level."

And with that he sent Teddy off to bed, before calling to him just before he let the door close.

"Teddy!"

Teddy stuck his head back around the door.

"Yes, Dad?"

Remus nodded to the parchment that the boy clutched in his hand.

"Best not tell your Mum about that, agreed?"

"Agreed."

And so Teddy returned to Gryffindor Tower with a spring in his step, determined not to let his father down.


	3. Death Eater Spells

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**3: Death Eater Spells**

Teddy went a week without getting into any more trouble, and it was one of the best weeks at Hogwarts he had ever had. The Maruaders' Map simply fascinated him and he would spend hours watching the dots representing different people moving about the castle. As Remus had instructed, he did not sneak out through any of the secret passages, though he did go to examine one or two, and he did not sneak around after hours. He could happily avoid those who would harass him and things were simply great up until one Thursday morning where he found himself bolting his breakfast in the Great Hall, for if he did not hurry up he would be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Teddy had always liked Defense Against the Dark Arts, he always scored good marks. Tonks said it was in his blood. The classes were always a little awkward however. How could they not be when his own father was the teacher? Teddy was glad that Remus seemed to forget they were related once in the classroom, there was no favoritism, in fact his father had once given him detention along with several other members of his house for charming a squadron of paper airplanes to attack the gang of Slytherins who sat in the back row.

Shoveling one last mouthful of porridge clumsily into his mouth Teddy jumped up, slung his bag over his shoulder, and ran out of the Great Hall, across the Entrance Hall and took the marble steps two at a time. By the time he had reached the Defense classroom his stomach was protesting horribly at the sudden shake up of his breakfast and he was very out of breath. He flung the door open and, ignoring the many eyes which had turned their attention to him, hurried to his seat. Remus did not seem to register the commotion as he drew out his wand.

"As I recall, your essays are due in this morning." He said, and there was a sudden rush to extract said essays from bags. Teddy rummaged through his bag, pushing aside textbooks and quills only to find his essay was nowhere to be found. He had left it in his dormitory.

"_Bugger_!" He cursed, coining one of his mother's most frequent exclamations.

When the class had placed their essays on their desks, Remus gave his wand a sharp flick and they all flew towards the front of the room, accumulating in a neat pile on his desk. Teddy cursed again as his father turned to look at him expectantly.

"Teddy?"

"Hm?"

"Your essay...?"

"I left it in my dormitory." Teddy explained, before gritting his teeth somewhat as he added, "I'm sorry, Professor." Even after being taught by his father for over a year, referring to him as "Professor" or "Sir" was always alien to him.

As usual Remus raised an eyebrow in an almost mocking way, but Teddy knew he found the situation equally as strange.

"I suggest you bring it to my office at break."

"I will." Teddy agreed, thankful that Remus turned away from him to address the class as a whole. As Remus began to talk to them about shielding spells, a voice from beside Teddy whispered in his ear.

"I hope you didn't forget the Charms essay too, I need to copy off you."

Chester Burton, fellow Gryffindor and one of Teddy's closest friends, elbowed the young metamorphmagus in the side to ensure he was listening.

"Ches, we got set that a week ago, why didn't you ask me then?!" Teddy whispered back.

"You kept saying you were busy!"

It was true, Teddy realized regretfully. He had spent much too much time up in his dormitory looking at the Marauders' Map.

"I'll give you it at break. After I've been to the office. Don't copy it completely though..."

"Yeah, yeah I know."

"'Cos last time you did that Flitwick went nuts."

"Oh c'mon Teddy, it doesn't..."

Somewhere in the room somebody cleared their throat very loudly.

The two boys looked up to find Remus leaning against his desk, fingers tapping on the wood impatiently as he stared at them both.

"When you're quite ready." He said, his eyebrow once again twitching upwards.

"Sorry Sir." Chester mumbled, and both boys hung their heads as if deeply ashamed.

For the rest of the lesson Teddy payed better attention, completing three sides of notes by the time the bell signaled that it was time to leave.

Once outside in the corridor Teddy began searching his bag for the Map, intending to find a quiet route down to the dungeons for Potions. But all of a sudden a voice from behind him made him call of the search abruptly.

"Hey, Wolf Cub!" A male voice shouted, and a number of howling noises drifted down the corridor after him. Teddy hastily shouldered his bag and began to walk briskly down the corridor, determined not to be drawn in to any arguments. But it was difficult to ignore whoever it was for he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, aren't you listening?! Turn around and stop being so rude!"

As he was forcefully turned to face whoever it was Teddy discovered that once again Orion Lynch and his fellow Slytherins had caught up with him.

"I don't have time for any of this," He told the other boy, trying best to sound as if he didn't care what they had to say. "I've got Potions to go to..."

"It'll only take a moment!" Orion told him with a twisted smile. "I just thought I should give you some friendly advice, that's all."

"Oh?" Teddy managed, forcing himself to stare defiantly into his nemesis' face.

"Yeah, you see I was just gonna say, when you finish Hogwarts, you better move away from your parents as soon as possible." Orion leant forward so he could whisper in Teddy's ear. "'Cos I heard once they get big enough, werewolves kill and eat their own children."

A heartless laugh escaped Teddy's throat as he turned sharply around and marched off down the corridor.

"Or did you know that already?!" Orion called after him. "Did he do that to your big brother or something and that's why you're an only child?! Animals like that should be _locked up_, or put on a _lead_ or something!"

All promises to his father forgotten Teddy thrust his hand into his pocket and drew his wand. In one quick movement he spun round and shouted the first spell that came into his head:

"_Sectumsempra_!"

The spell caught Orion's arm and Teddy watched, suddenly horrified, the other boy screamed in pain, as deep bloody cuts were slashed into his skin.

Teddy had always known that Sectumsempra was an appalling spell. His mother had once told him about it being used by Death Eaters. Of course he had never planned to ever use it, but when he felt angry he often went as far to wish it upon people. To his own disgust his anger had come so suddenly that he had managed to wish it verbally today.

And it was even worse than he had imagined.

What if Orion _died_?!

A crowd began to form in the corridor, several girls screamed and many older students demanded that somebody should go get a teacher. Teddy simply stared, eyes wide, heart pounding in his ears. He wished just then that_ he_ could die.

"Professor!" A sixth year Ravenclaw boy with curly blonde hair at the edge of the gathered crowd had turned to a figure who had stopped abruptly at the end of the corridor, staring at the scene before him. "Professor Lupin, come quick, I think he's dead or something!"

The crowd parted as Remus strode quickly up the corridor and, upon seeing Orion lying bleeding profusely all over the stone floor, dropped to his knees to examine the damage. Teddy watched in terror as his father's eyes widened and he looked up, straight at Teddy, who was still clutching his wand, all colour drained from his face.

"You didn't...?!" Remus whispered as silence fell over the assembled children.

Through the tears that were starting to blur his vision Teddy saw a look of pure despair and hurt cross his father's face before he looked back down at Orion and pulled the whimpering boy up into his arms.

"Run ahead to the hospital wing." He instructed the Ravenclaw boy hurriedly. "Tell Madam Pomfrey what has happened. Quickly!! Everybody else, _get to your lessons_!"

Teddy watched the boy sprint off as Remus slowly heaved himself to his feet and set off at a surprisingly brisk pace down the corridor with Orion's limp figure cradled in his arms.

Once Remus had disappeared from view the rest of the students turned to look at Teddy instead.

"What d'you think you're staring at?!" A voice from just behind Teddy snapped. "Bugger off, all of you! Don't tell me you'd keep your tempers at that! C'mon Teddy, mate."

Teddy allowed Chester to steer him away up the corridor. He had no idea where they were going, everything seemed to be a blur.

"Merlin, Teddy what were you thinking?! You totally did him in!"

"D...Dad's...Dad's gonna kill me." Teddy managed to stutter as he found himself led down a staircase.

"Yeah, I bet. He looked pretty upset! What the hell was it you did anyway? I never saw that before..."

"It's...it's...oh Merlin, Ches! The Death Eaters used to use it, y'know when...when...! Ches, I used a...!!"

As Teddy dissolved into tears Chester pushed him down onto a stone bench and sat down beside him.

"Death Eaters? You serious?! Wow...I mean...what made you do that?!"

"I dunno! I dunno, I just...I...! Ches, I didn't mean it, I swear!"

"I know, mate." Chester assured him, patting him on the arm awkwardly. "Don't worry, it doesn't make you Voldemort Junior or anything...!"

"Shut up!" Teddy snapped suddenly. "Don't talk about...about _him_ when I just...! Ches, what if Orion dies or something?!"

"He won't die, they'll patch him up good as new, you'll see."

"You think?"

"Sure. He'll be fine."

A set of hurried footsteps were heard heading towards them and they found a tall, gangly Hufflepuff walking towards them.

"You're Teddy, right?" He asked as he came to a halt in front of them both.

"Come to poke your nose in?!" Chester asked rudely, folding his arms across his chest. "Just get lost, yeah? He's upset as it is!"

However the boy paid him no attention.

"Professor Lupin says you have to go to his office." He informed Teddy. As the boy simply buried his face in his hands and began to cry harder, he added, "right now."

"Okay, okay! He's going!" Chester said, getting to his feet, pulling Teddy after him. "C'mon Teddy, he'll be even more mad if you don't go straight away." And with that he dragged Teddy back up the stairs towards the Defence Professor's office.

When Teddy entered the office he found Remus sitting in a worn armchair by the fire, his face pale as the light of the flames reflected off his skin, highlighting the numerous scars on his face and the streaks of silver in his hair. Teddy approached cautiously, holding his breath.

"Sit down." Remus told him quietly, without so much as a glance at him. Teddy was sure it was because he simply couldn't bear to. "Your mother will be here any minute now."


	4. Breaking Hearts

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**4: Breaking Hearts**

When Tonks finally did arrive, clambering out of the fireplace and dusting the soot from her robes, she was to break a ten minute long silence when she asked breathlessly:

"What in _Merlin's_ name is going on, Remus?!"

"I suggest you ask your son that question." Remus told her without looking up from his lap.

To Teddy's misery his mother rounded on him and folded her arms across her chest, her expression one scarily close to that of his grandmother Andromeda's if she caught him with his elbows on the table at dinnertime. Her face softened slightly as she noted his tear-stained face, however.

"Teddy? What's wrong?" She asked, looking deeply concerned when her son simply burst into fresh tears.

"Orion Lynch is currently in the hospital wing with some pretty dire wounds, because our son saw fit to _hex_ him." Remus explained, his voice surprisingly cold.

"Oh." Tonks said, a deep frown creasing her forehead. "And…that's a reason for him to be in complete hysterics, is it?"

Remus reached over and took hold of her arm, pulling her towards his chair and into a crouch so that he could whisper in her ear. Teddy watched her eyes widen in the same shock that had adorned Remus' face when he had discovered Orion in the corridor earlier. Unlike Remus' utter despair however, Tonks got swiftly to her feet and her hair darkened to a deep crimson. She was simply furious.

"Sectumsempra?!" She cried, as her son took a good step backwards and sunk into a chair, still sobbing. "After all we've told you?! George Weasley lost an EAR to that spell, and you go casting it on some poor kid in a school corridor?! I'll be surprised if McGonnagal doesn't EXPELL you!" And with that she too burst into tears.

The prospect of severe punishment made Teddy feel almost better, for he knew he deserved it. He wiped his tears away with a sniff and watched his father ease his mother onto the arm of the chair as she buried her face in his shoulder, her hair now a distraught mousy brown.

"My own little boy!" She was whimpering as Remus tried best to comfort her. "I go out after scum using spells like that and my own _son_…!"

Despite her being deeply upset Teddy resented being compared to the "scum" she spent her days carting off to Azkaban.

"He deserved to get hexed!" He protested angrily. "He said Dad should get locked up or put on a _lead_!" He said no more for the look his father gave him was something akin to a stunning spell. Instead he sat silently and waiting for his mother to calm down. She did not do so quickly. When there were relatively dry eyes all round Remus finally spoke.

"We know it's difficult, Teddy." He said quietly, his voice at last loosing its cold edge. "And I know we've told you before, but you really need to stop all this fighting."

Teddy nodded in agreement.

"And if it really does prove too much, for Merlin's sake don't do this again." Tonks told him as she detached herself from her husband's now damp shoulder. "When I was at school we made do with tickling jinxes, didn't you too?"

As the last half of her sentence was directed at him, Remus cleared his throat somewhat suspiciously as he said:

"Mostly, yes." At the sight of his son struggling not to laugh he added, "that is to say I never went as far as to risk expulsion."

As if physically struck, Teddy suddenly had no desire to laugh at all. His sadness must as showed for Tonks suddenly looked to be on the verge of tears again. Suddenly there was a great flash of silver by the door as a patronus came floating through the wood and came to a halt in front of Tonks and Remus. Teddy was not at all startled. Even after the Order of the Phoenix disbanded after Voldemort's demise many still used patronuses to communicate.

"We've spotted him just south of the village of Rosebrook, so get yourself down there quickly Tonks, Smith's gone home sick, so we're one short." A deep voice announced, before the patronus disappeared in a puff of silvers smoke.

With that Tonks got to her feet and straightened her robes.

"Work calls." She announced heavily, drawing her wand.

Remus too got to his feet and put his arms tightly around her.

"Be careful." He told her quietly as she turned round in his arms and threw her arms around his neck. Instinctively Teddy screwed his eyes shut.

"Keep an eye on him." He heard his mother say after a good minute, signaling that it was probably safe to open his eyes. He looked over at them just in time for his father to kiss his mother once again. When it went on for more than a split second Teddy cleared his throat loudly. But as usual they paid no attention. He closed his eyes again.

Once they did break apart Tonks looked over her shoulder at her son as he sat with his face screwed up. Seeing him looking so young and child-like she felt her worry grow even worse, but still she turned back to her husband, planting one last kiss on his cheek, strode over to Teddy and gave him a kiss too, before disappearing in a roar of green flames.

"Gross." Teddy muttered irritably, as his father sat back down, stretching his legs out in front of the fire with a satisfied sigh. At his son's comment he rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

"Dad?" Teddy said after a while, just as Remus' eyes had begin to drift closed.

"Yes Teddy?"

"I…I'm sorry I hexed Orion."

Remus reached up and swept his fringe from his eyes as he looked over at the boy who sat hunched in his chair.

"To think you waited till your mother left before saying that." He said sadly. "You keep this up and you'll break her heart, son."

Again Teddy felt he'd taken a physical blow, and hung his head in shame.

Remus watched the reaction, but did not regret admitting it at all. It was true, for one thing, Tonks would no doubt be miserable for days.

Somewhere in the corridors outside a bell sounded and after wiping any stray tears away Teddy accompanied his father down to the Great Hall, where they went their separate ways to eat lunch.


	5. The Day Gets Worse

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**5: The Day Gets Worse**

Teddy spent the remainder of the day in his dormitory, feigning illness. He couldn't stand how people had stared at him and whispered to each other when they thought he wasn't listening. So he lay on his four-poster bed with the heavy red curtains drawn tightly around him, watching the labeled dots move across the wizened surface of the Maruader's Map.

Remus was in his classroom, teaching. As Teddy observed him walk up and down in front of the class he wondered what they were studying. Was Remus still upset? Or had the whole horrible incident begun to slip his mind? Teddy watched a dot labeled Minerva McGonagall make its way with surprising speed up the corridor and into the Defense classroom. He watched with mild interest as Remus was seen to join McGonagall at the back of the classroom before, after a short pause, they both made a speedy exit. Where were they going? Teddy peered closer to the map and watched their progress across the school. They paused at the entrance to one classroom, the Charms room to be precise where Teddy was supposed to be at this moment in time, before continuing at the same quick pace until they stopped at the top of a flight of stairs a few minutes later. Several inches above them was a motionless dot in a circular room. Teddy Lupin, the label read.

They were outside Gryffindor Tower, Teddy realized, his curiosity mounting as the two dots moved into the Tower.

Suddenly Teddy heard swift footsteps on the stairs and he hastily wiped the map blank and shoved it under his pillow.

"Teddy?" Remus' voice called uncertainly as a second set of footsteps made a slightly slower ascent of the stairs.

"Is he there, Remus?" The Headmistress asked quietly.

Teddy watched a shadow slowly approach the side of his bed and a hand reached forward to draw the curtains aside. As Remus looked down at him Teddy felt dread seize him and he had a sudden urge to beg his father to tell McGonagall that no, Teddy wasn't there at all. Surely he would be in even more trouble for skipping lessons?! But as Remus continued to stare Teddy took a good look at his father's face and found that being scolded seemed appealing in comparison to anything that might come next. Remus' face was terribly pale and his expression strangely emotionless, as if he dared not show how he felt. It was the look of a man who was determined to stand tall and strong, despite the world crumbling to pieces around him.

"I've been expelled, haven't I?" Teddy said, drawing in a breath and holding it.

When his father said nothing the curtains were pulled back further to reveal the tall, upright figure of Minerva McGonagall

"Not today, Mr. Lupin." She informed him, and then she sighed loudly, turning to Remus who was still staring at Teddy. "I'll get some of this things, how about that?" She said kindly. As Remus gave the tiniest of nods Teddy wondered what, if he indeed hadn't been expelled, was going on? The Headmistress, although a perfectly nice witch, had never spoken in such a soft and kind manner to anybody in Teddy's living memory. To his further bemusement she then took hold of Remus' arm and steered him to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'll sort it out, don't you worry." She added, before turning towards Teddy's chest, which flew open with a loud _clunk_. Teddy was vaguely grateful that he kept his belongings reasonably neat for she appeared to be searching though them, gathering socks, jeans, jumpers and t shirts.

"Come here, Teddy." Remus said at last, patting the duvet besides him. Teddy scooted up next to him and waited for some sort of explanation.

"We're going to be leaving Hogwarts...for a night or so." Remus explained, somewhat stiffly.

"So...I've been excluded, but not expelled?"

"No, no, nothing like that." And, just as McGonagall had a moment or so earlier, Remus sighed deeply. He turned to face his son properly, which worried Teddy even more. "Now, son, I don't want you to panic, because I promise everything is going to be just fine..." He said, as Teddy felt his whole body tense anxiously. "But your mother...had a bit of an accident this afternoon..."

Teddy's hands shot out and grabbed hold of his father's arm.

"Is she okay?!" He cried, as his father did not so much as blink at his sudden movement.

"I am told she will make a full recovery, yes. She will, however, be in hospital for a while..."

"What happened?!" Teddy interrupted, gripping hold of his father even more fiercely.

Remus was seen to flinch at this question but Teddy fixed a pleading look on his face.

"I'm not a baby, Dad!" He reminded him bluntly. "I don't need some...some sugar-coated..."

"I know." Remus told him, smiling weakly, he fidgeted somewhat before continuing. "Do you recall the Unforgivable Curses, Teddy?"

Teddy nodded slowly, instinctively shifting himself a little closer to his father.

"In which case, you remember the Cruciatus Curse?"

Again Teddy nodded, trying best to copy his father's emotionless expression.

"Well...that particular curse was mentioned...amongst...others..."

"What others?"

Again Remus flinched and it dawned on Teddy just what was coming.

"S...sectumsempra?" He asked in a whisper.

His father nodded.

"She will be just fine." He added, again smiling weakly.

Father and son observed McGonagall folding various clothes into a bag in silence before a terrible thought occurred to Teddy, having thought about the final revelation.

"Dad?"

"Teddy?"

Teddy shifted closer still until his could lean his head on his father's shoulder.

"D'you...think Mum got hurt 'cos...'cos I upset her? Like she was upset so..."

To his surprise he found a hand clamped firmly across his mouth.

"_Definitely_ _not_." Remus told him, his voice suddenly louder. "Don't you think that for a single second, don't you _dare_, you hear me?"

Teddy nodded and Remus removed his hand, putting an arm around his shoulders instead.

"I just thought..." Teddy explained quietly. "...'Cos I made her upset...she might have thought about that and not thought about the bad guys and..."

"Shh."

"...And then they hurt her. It's my fault she got hurt." He allowed Remus to pull him into a proper hug and was grateful to hide his face in his father's jumper.

"Your mother is more than capable of leaving the domestics at home, I can assure you." Remus told him.

"How'd you know?"

To his surprise Remus let out a warm chuckle.

"Because I caused her much more bother than you, back during the war when we were with the Order, and she managed just fine."

"What about that time she fell down the steps at the Ministry?"

"She claims that was thanks to Bellatrix, I played no part at all in that."

"So she wasn't mad with you then?"

Remus stared thoughtfully out of the window.

"I'm not sure there was a time back then when she wasn't at least partly mad with me. I wasn't an easy person to love."

"Making up for it now though." Teddy commented, before making a series of retching noises in his throat.

"Get up." His father instructed briskly, giving the laughing child a playful push and getting to his feet as Teddy fell back, landing sprawled on the bed. McGonagall handed over a bag and Remus thanked her as Teddy heaved himself off the bed.

"Give Tonks my best!" McGonagall said, sounded more cheerful now the atmosphere had lifted somewhat. With that they trooped out of the Tower and Remus and Teddy made their way to Remus' office, intending to use the floo network.


	6. Hobbies and Hospitals

_Note: Thanks very much to all the wonderful people who reviewed! You really do make my day!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**6: Hobbies and Hospitals**

Teddy had been to St. Mungo's Hospital only twice in his lifetime, the first time as a baby which he had no recollection of, and the second at the age of four. This second occasion had also been to visit his mother, however she had denied his father bring him into the room, claiming that he was too young to see her in such a sorry state. He had been left with a kind witch dressed in healer's robes. She had given him a lollipop and then Remus had taken him to the park to play with a muggle toy which, he had been told, was known as a frisbee. It had been a good day.

Now at the more grown-up age of twelve, Teddy found his third trip to the hospital a much less enjoyable affair. The corridors of Mungo's seemed much gloomier than he remembered, and as he walked down the corridor towards the Spell Damage Ward, trailing a little behind his father, he felt a great sense of foreboding. He sped up his pace a little to keep up with Remus, and after some deliberation reached to grasp hold of his hand. To his relief Remus seemed to accept his silent need for reassurance and did not make him feel foolish in the slightest. In fact Teddy was sure the contact made his father feel more at ease too, for he gave Teddy's hand a squeeze as they reached the double doors at the end of the corridor. Teddy held his breath as Remus pushed one door open and stepped over the threshold. Determined to put on a brave face for his mother, Teddy followed his father's example, but still kept a hold of his hand. They were greeted by a Healer who seemed to be unaware that Teddy was there for she simply began speaking quickly to Remus in hushed tones, mentioning a series of words that Teddy had never heard before in his life as Remus nodded grimly. Teddy gazed around the ward, where most occupied beds seemed to have curtains drawn around them for privacy. Or perhaps, Teddy thought miserably, the patients' injuries were simply too dire to look at. His mother was nowhere to be seen.

"Well then," The Healer said, her voice now at a normal volume and sounding much too cheerful as far as Teddy was concerned. "I shall just go and tell her you're here." She looked down at Teddy who kept his eyes at floor level. "She'll be _ever_ so pleased to see you, Theodore!" And with that she turned and bustled off. Teddy grimaced further still. The last person to call him Theodore had been a Ministry worker who had called at the Lupin household a year or so ago claiming to be gathering information for the Werewolf Registry. He had told Teddy this personally, at which point Tonks had sent the boy to his room. As he had retreated up the stairs he had distinctly heard his mother tell the man in clipped tones that he had _no_ right to barge into her home and make insinuations about her son, anybody with half a brain knew that lycanthropy was _not_ hereditary, and that he better get the hell out of her hallway before she hexed him to the moon and back.

"Come along, Teddy." Remus said quietly as the Healer stuck her head around a curtain at the end of the ward and beckoned to them. "Big smile for your mother now, remember."

Teddy plastered what he was sure was an extremely fake smile across his face as Remus lead him down the centre of the room. As they stepped through the gap in the curtains Teddy couldn't help hold his breath again and he stood just behind his father, as if hoping to be shielding from what he was sure would be the most horrific thing he had ever seen.

"Here're my boys!" Tonks said, her voice weaker than usually but still perfectly cheerful. Teddy slowly peered around his father's arm to look at her. If it wasn't for her voice Teddy wasn't sure he would have recognized her. Half of her face was concealed by a mass of white bandages and the visible half was terribly pale. She was sitting up, however, which he supposed was a good sign.

"Where are my hugs then?!" She asked with a smile. "Cuts aren't contagious you know, Teddy!"

Teddy moved from his hiding place behind Remus and shuffled over to her. He leant down and put his arms loosely around her, worried to hold her too tightly. Her grip on him was equally as feeble as she moved somewhat stiffly to plant a kiss on his cheek. After a short moment he retreated back for his father to take a turn at hugging her.

"I can't believe you dragged him out of school!" Tonks was saying as she hugged her husband, who buried his face in her shoulder with a deep sigh of what Teddy assumed was relief.

"Like he'd learn a thing." Remus said dismissively as he drew back. He glanced around searchingly before reaching into his pocket and drawing out a shiny gold galleon. He turned to Teddy and held it out for him to take.

"You best go get your mother some flowers." He said with a smile. "It's looking far too dull round here!"

"You could conjure some." Teddy reminded him, not taking the coin. He didn't like the idea of wandering around the hospital alone.

"Certainly I could, but where's the care and effort in that?"

Reluctantly Teddy took the coin, forced himself to offer his mother a cheerful grin before turning and heading towards the double doors.

"Did she expel him?" Tonks asked immediately as soon as he was out of earshot.

"No, she didn't even talk to him about it." Remus informed her, settling in a chair beside the bed.

"Not a word?"

"No. She left that to us, I suppose. It was hardly unprovoked, Minerva knows that."

"Oh."

"He said something….just before we left Hogwarts…"

When Remus didn't elaborate, wondering if he really ought to admit to his sick wife just how low their son really way, Tonks slowly turned to look at him.

"What did he say?" She asked.

"Well…he seems to think you getting hurt is…is his fault."

"He does?"

"Mm."

"Oh Merlin!"

"Is it true?"

Tonks was quite taken aback by this question and she frowned.

"What do you mean, is it true? You didn't go and tell him…"

"I said it had nothing to do with him at all. Is that true?"

"Of course it is! For goodness sake Remus…_don't look at me like that_!" She folded her arms angrily across her chest, wincing at the sudden movement.

"Shh, Dora." He said, laying a hand on her arm as if to restrain her. "I know just as well as you do…"

"You do not know!" She snapped. "Teddy had nothing to do with it, you weren't there, you don't know…!" She trailed off at the sceptical look on his face.

"Kingsley sent word _himself_." Remus told her, his voice rising slightly as she scowled at him. "He said he nearly sent you home when you arrived, you weren't _yourself_. It had everything to do with Teddy. You weren't concentrating at all…"

"You reckon you'd do better?!" She asked, wrenching her arm away from him, again wincing painfully.

"I don't mean it like that, I'm not saying…"

"Yes you are! You promised things wouldn't change once you went back to Hogwarts, you _promised_ Remus!"

"I never said they should…"

"You said I should carry on working all I wanted, you said I didn't have to stop, you said you would live with it being dangerous, after all I'm already a bloody war hero, I can handle it just fine! I make one little mistake and you completely forget all you said!"

"I'm not telling you to quit!" He insisted, reaching for her arm again, gripping it so that she could not pull away again. He loosened his hold a little when she winced at it. "Dora, I didn't mean that at all, I swear. Calm down else the Healers might just throw me out." He paused to take hold of her hand as she sunk back onto her pillows with a sniff. "It's Teddy I have the problem with, not you. He's causing chaos for the both of us. We sort Teddy's problems out, things will be better for all three of us."

"What are we going to do?" She asked him, closing her eyes as if her outburst had exhausted her.

"He needs something to take his mind off…things. A hobby or something."

"Duelling Club?"

"He goes already. It's only once a week anyway."

"Chess? Gobstones?"

"He's like his mother, gets bored and fidgety when he plays chess."

"Hey!"

"It's true, Dora."

"Quidditch? He's pretty good, Harry said he likes playing Beater when they all play round his and Ginny's."

"Chester's fond of Quidditch, though he never tried for the Gryffindor team. They could practice together."

"Yeah, we'll get him a decent broom. A Firebolt or something."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"I'm not paying for a Firebolt." He told her bluntly.

"Why not? They're not top of the range anymore, they aren't so expensive."

"They're expensive enough."

"Do you _want_ your son to be happy or not?!"

"Of course but, well for starters he hasn't agreed it's a good idea!"

"He's always liked quidditch, you just never bought him a decent broom…"

"Alright, alright, we'll get a Firebolt. Or maybe a Nimbus…"

"_Firebolt_, Remus. Oh look!" Tonks grinned as Teddy reappeared carrying a large bunch of vivid pink flowers. "Awesome flowers, Teddy!"

Teddy set them down silently on the bedside table and perched on the edge of the bed.

"Your Dad was just saying how he's gonna take you to Diagon Alley this afternoon, and buy you a Firebolt." Tonks told him cheerfully, smiling sweetly at the disapproving look on her husband's face.

"Really?!" Teddy jumped straight to his feet as if he had been electrocuted. "Wow! That's so cool, Dad! It's _bloody brilliant_!"

"Yes…it is isn't it?" Remus agreed, voice laced with sarcasm that was completely lost on both wife and child. He wondered just when "bloody brilliant" had been an acceptable phrase for his son to use, but supposed he couldn't complain when the boy's mother let such terms slip out on a regular basis. He expected Ron Weasley might also have something to do with it. They may well have words, he decided.

"You know, they made a new improved one not long back, Chester was telling me, that would be really good!" Teddy babbled, practically dancing up and down on the spot with excitement.

"Yeah, I heard about that. Better get Dad to get one of those, they're much better than the older ones." Tonks agreed, still ignoring the increasingly agitated expression mounting on Remus' face as he wondered if they intended to sweep his vault clean of every single knut. It wasn't that he couldn't afford such things on very rare occasions, Tonks had risen to heights in the Auror Department very quickly in the past few years, and now they were both earning, but having spent such a long time in possession of no money whatsoever before Voldemort's demise he was habitually careful with money. However sometimes, he forced himself to believe, it was necessary to be extravagant. Teddy needed this, he was sure. And so it was that Remus found himself taking Teddy to Quality Quidditch Supplies later that day to not only purchase a Firebolt, but a servicing kit too. He even managed to smile at the wizard behind the till as he handed over the bulk of gold and silver coins and watched them being counted into the till draw before his very eyes.


	7. Lynching

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Ms Rowling does._

**7: Lynching**

The news spread through the school like wildfire upon Teddy's return two days later, for Firebolts were still a rarity amongst the students. He was going to try out for the house team, the Gryffindors decided happily. Professor Lupin, a Gryffindor himself, was trying to improve their chance of victory. It was a reward, the Slytherins claimed, for hexing Orion Lynch, because werewolves and the like thrived on such evil doings. It was damn lucky, the rest believed, they wished their own fathers would have similar moments of madness. After all it must have been madness, none of the Lupins had ever been seen to own anything of such high value before now. They lived in a modest house, amused themselves with visits to friends and relatives as opposed to trips to watch Quidditch, and favoured thoughtful rather than grand gestures. The Professor's primary luxury was the purchase of books, which Teddy borrowed and read in turn. They were not poor, they just liked things that way. The purchase of a Firebolt was indeed out of the ordinary.

Chester was enthusiastic to say the least when Teddy suggested they practice Quidditch together. They spent long hours whizzing up and down the Quidditch pitch, taking turns at throwing balls for the other to clobber with the Beater's bat. They imagined cheering crowds and commentated their antics until they became determined to experience matches for real. Their fun was cut short however, when Chester landed himself in detention with Professor Sprout, after levitating a pot of compost over a unsuspecting Slytherin's head and letting it upturn with a cheerful "oops!". Teddy soon grew tired of simply flying round and round the pitch alone, and so he headed back to the castle to find some other source of fun. Having not seen his father for several days he found himself gravitating towards Remus' office. Reaching the door he pressed his ear against the dark, polished wood, to check Remus was alone.

He wasn't, Teddy discovered, for a female voice spoke.

"Hold still, for Merlin's sake!"

Madam Pomfrey? Teddy's curiosity rocketed. What was she doing in there?

"If you had cursed him into oblivion, I'd not have said a word." The voice of the Headmistress announced.

"And what message would that be to Teddy?" Teddy heard his father ask. The boy felt a sudden urge to throw the door open in order to reveal all, but he resisted it as McGonnogall spoke again.

"Did I honestly appoint you to the right post, Remus? Did I really? Because I'm sure the subject is _Defense_ Against the Dark Arts! _Defense_, Remus, the art of _defending_ oneself!"

"Yes Minerva, I am perfectly aware of that fact." Remus' voice was surprisingly terse, his patience appeared to be wearing very thin indeed. Teddy found this particularly strange. There was nobody in this world more patient than Remus, Teddy was sure.

"There is nothing wrong with self defense," McGonnogall continued, as if lecturing a group of first years.

"I will not risk a full scale wizarding duel in the middle of a _school_!" Remus interrupted, and Teddy had the distinct impression that he was probably speaking through gritted teeth. "What in Merlin's name would that look like to the children?! A fine example, I would be!"

"You would, Remus." Madam Pomrey's voice rejoined the debate. "You'd win hands down, I saw you and Yaxley all those years ago..."

"Poppy, _please_! What's done is done, and I'm still glad I didn't curse him. Given a second chance I'd not change a thing. Dora's an Auror, life doesn't get much more violent than that and we see fit to be honest with Teddy about it. I won't have him think duels are simply acceptable, he knows too much about..." Remus' voice halted abruptly in mid sentence and there was a brief silence. Suddenly the door was being pulled open and Teddy drew back hastily, fixing what he hoped was a suitably innocent expression on his face.

The three adults were all staring at him. The Headmistress was standing before the fireplace and Madam Pomfrey was leaning against the desk, a wad of bandages in her hands. Remus stood peering around the door, a calm facade plastered across his scarred features.

"Good evening, Teddy." He greeted, making Teddy wince at the formality in his voice.

The boy chose to remain silent.

After what seemed to be a century of silence Remus nodded to the broom clasped in his son's hand.

"Have you been practicing?"

Teddy nodded.

"Good." His father said, though there was little if no hint in his voice that he was at all interested. The whole atmosphere was unbearably awkward. Teddy wished he could simply disappear.

Suddenly Remus stepped out from behind the door and ushered Teddy back into the corridor beyond, slowly following the child.

"And where are you going?!" Madam Pomfrey asked, seemingly outraged at the werewolf's silent escape. "I've not finished..."

"I would gladly stay, Poppy," Remus told her, offering a apologetic smile, "but I have something of great importance I really must attend to."

As he walked down the corridor Teddy kept his eyes fixed on the floor. After rounding the corner he came to a halt, surveying the smooth gray floor on which Orion had collapsed bleeding under a week ago. Just then it occurred to him that Remus was not beside him. He turned to find his father a good number of paces behind him, his usually brisk walk reduced to a much slower pace which was, Teddy observed with more than slight concern, accompanied by a heavy limp. He wondered if he ought to offer help of some shape or form, but Remus appeared oblivious to his condition. Teddy simply watched as he reached the staircase and began a slow descent.

"Are you coming?" Remus called over his shoulder, as he paused halfway down the steps.

Still silent, Teddy followed him, eyes now fixed on his father instead of the floor. At each heavy footfall and occasional tensing of the shoulders when his father leant too heavily on his injured leg, Teddy felt as though a blade had been plunged into his stomach. He wondered if it were possible for Remus to see the irony in a near-pacifist teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. As his father reached the bottom of the steps and turned to head down another staircase Teddy decided it better not to ask. Remus had always said he enjoyed teaching the subject, but after loosing so many friends in the wars which had raged on for so long, the prospect of any further fighting simply made him feel "_tired_".

Teddy watched in silent anguish as his father struggled along another corridor, down the marble staircase, across the entrance hall and out into the failing light of the late October evening. They did not come to a halt until they reached a stone bench beside the lake, which rippled peacefully in the breeze. A tentacle rose up from the water and slapped back down into the depths, as if the giant squid was greeting them. Teddy found himself waving back.

They sat in silence for a while, Teddy picked at a loose thread on his robes and Remus appeared to be deep in thought. Teddy's eyes again came to rest on his father's leg again and finally his curiosity became too much for him.

"Who did it?" He asked bluntly. He couldn't help but sound angry, from what he had heard Remus could have avoided injury.

"Vincent Lynch." Came the reply. Teddy was surprised at how readily the information was offered to him, though he supposed Remus had had a long while to think about what to say whilst walking out here.

"Why?" Teddy knew it was a silly question really. For starters Orion's father probably didn't need an excuse to attack a werewolf, and even if he did Teddy was sure Orion had provided him with one.

"He says it's a disgrace that I teach anybody, let alone children of twelve years of age, curses fit for Death Eaters, and that the lack of self restraint I have taught my son is equally as shameful." Remus explained, stretching out both damaged and normal leg out in front of him. The material of his trousers seemed inflated somewhat on his right leg, no doubt from bandaging.

"He...came to the school and...?"

"He went to the Headmistress and demanded a meeting. Things deteriorated pretty quickly. He drew his wand on me."

Teddy waited but it appeared that his father believed the story to be over.

"Then what?" The boy prompted, fixing his father with an expectant stare.

Remus remained silent.

"It's bloody stupid!" Teddy cried, stamping his foot on the ground and folding his arms.

"You watch that mouth of yours." His father told him.

"But it is!" The boy protested angrily. "It's the biggest load of...of..._rubbish_ I ever heard! As if a member of the Order of the Phoenix would actively teach sectumsempra in a bloody classroom!"

"Teddy!" Remus warned, his voice low in warning.

"In fact you were practically _leader_ some of the time! It's like saying Dumbledore taught the bloody Cruciatus curse..."

"_Teddy_!!"

"...Where was Lynch in the war, anyway?! Hiding behind his blood status, bet he didn't get _his_ hands dirty! You and Mum didn't hide for a _second_, you risked _everything_, you could have _died_ in defense of him and the rest of the Wizarding World, and he comes in here and compares you the bloody _Death Eaters_!!" By the end of his little rant Teddy's hands had balled into fists and he was shouting. Remus appeared to forget the need to scold him, for he was staring down at the now crimson haired child in surprise. He supposed he would keep it quiet that Vincent Lynch had drawn his wand on him before, many years ago at the Battle of Hogwarts. Consequently Remus had not felt too bad about being cursed today, for the first time Lynch had picked a fight with the werewolf the then Death Eater had found himself painfully immobilized.

Remus reached and took hold of each of his son's hands in turn, prizing apart the fists.

"I shouldn't worry about Vincent Lynch." He told him calmly. "Magical Law Enforcement showed up and dragged him off after Professor McGonnogall announced he was a danger to her staff, let alone her students." He couldn't help but laugh, but Teddy was simply enraged further, for he couldn't see what was funny at all.

"How can you just…just sit there all bloody calm…!"

"Language, Teddy."

"And _laughing_?! What's so funny?!"

"The idea of Vincent Lynch being a threat to…to _anybody_, is simply laughable. There are few who duel as sloppily as him." Remus explained.

"How'd you know that?" Teddy asked, his interest rising, but Remus appeared not to hear him. "He was threat enough to you, though." Teddy continued when nothing was said. "Look at you!"

Remus shrugged dismissively.

"Don't be melodramatic, Teddy." He said, somewhat sternly. "We have your mother for that."

"Mum's not melodramatic!" Teddy argued, jumping to his mother's defense. "It's just not all of us are as laid back as you! If you were much more laid back you'd fall off this bench, Dad!" To his utter most annoyance, Remus laughed again. But, with no prompting from his son, Remus suddenly stopped laughing and there was silence. After a while, whilst staring out across the lake, he asked:

"Do you like Hogwarts, Teddy?"

Teddy couldn't quite see how this question was relevant to anything just now, but he supposed he ought to answer his father all the same.

"It's good." He said somewhat uncertainly.

"What's good about it? What's the best thing?"

Again Teddy wondered what the point was, but he answered all the same.

"Defense lessons. And Quidditch, I guess."

"What's so great about Defense lessons?" Remus asked him.

"What's this got to do with anything?" Teddy asked in return.

"It's what parents do, Teddy, they take an interest in school."

"Oh. Well…I guess I like Defense 'cos you teach it. You're real good, Dad. It's fun, we do cool stuff in your class."

"Oh." Teddy couldn't help but get the impression that Remus was almost disappointed, but he couldn't for the life of him imagine why he might be.

"I bet we all get good marks in Defense, 'cos of you." The boy added, just in case Remus didn't quite see the multitude of his admiration.

But Remus simply sighed heavily.

"We better get back to the castle." He decided, struggling to his feet. "Dinner will be starting soon."


	8. A Different Teacher

_Note: Thanks very much to those people who left me reviews, they entertained me whilst I was supposed to be doing coursework practice in ICT this afternoon! (I'm a good student…honest…!)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Ms. Rowling does._

**8: A Different Teacher**

The days following Vincent Lynch's "meeting" with Professor Lupin were rife with rumours and speculation about what exactly had gone on behind the closed doors of the Defense teacher's office. To Teddy's disgust, but not at all to his surprise, Orion Lynch added a number of tall tales to the list and over breakfast Teddy heard a huge number of bizarre stories being discussed up and down all four house tables. Chasing a stray cornflake around the bowl with his spoon, Teddy heard the now familiar sound of slow, heavy footsteps as Remus entered the Great Hall and made his way up the side of the room past the Gryffindor table. He was always a little late for breakfast, Teddy recalled, for each night he would floo home to be with Tonks and would always take his time coming back again, except on nights when it was his turn to patrol the corridors and ensure no students were out of bed, in which case he did not go home at all. Sometimes, when Tonks had a day off work and did not have leave for the Ministry at some deeply resented early hour of the morning, he would stay and eat breakfast with her instead. Teddy's mother was a great fan of this arrangement, for out of the two Lupin adults, Remus was certainly the better cook. Tonks also claimed he was better at the tidying up of the kitchen afterwards, Teddy expected this fact explained his father's consistently late arrival.

"Doing your Mad-Eye impression again?" Teddy teased cheerfully as Remus passed him. With a grin Remus' hand shot out and snatched a piece of toast off of Teddy's plate.

"Hey!" His son protested, but was met with a comically stern expression.

"Your lack of Constant Vigilance has cost you half of your breakfast, Lupin!" Remus informed the boy, who instantly dissolved into laughter. "Let that be a lesson to you!" And with that he continued on his slow path up to the High table, shoving Teddy's toast unceremoniously into his mouth as he went.

"Your Dad's cool, for an older guy." Chester observed, reaching to steal Teddy's other piece of toast and spreading a generous amount of marmalade onto it before his friend could notice.

"Yeah, he is." Teddy agreed, slurping milk from his spoon.

"It's a shame he can't come teach us History of Magic this morning, I reckon he's the only teacher here who could make goblin rebellions sound even vaguely interesting."

Teddy groaned at the mere thought of the upcoming lesson. Each time Professor Binns told them about the goblin rebellions, Teddy only manage to take note of the first few facts given to him, for after that things slumped into a dull haze of dates and names, interrupted occasionally by dreams of Quidditch glory as he and Chester would drift in and out sleep in the back row.

"I might just not turn up." Chester told him. "Binns wouldn't notice."

"So you can do that Defense essay before my Dad gives you detention for not handing it in two lessons running."

"You think he will?"

"Yeah." Teddy grinned at the deeply disappointed look on his friend's face. "Ha, not so cool now, is he?"

In the end Teddy did persuade Chester to abandon the breakfast table and go to History of Magic, and as usual it passed all too slowly for their liking. They were jolted back to life by the sound of the bell and groggily stumbled out into the corridor.

"What's next?" Chester asked, yawning.

"Defence!" Teddy announced happily, sniggering at Chester's groan. "Did you finish your essay in History?"

"No." Chester replied grumpily, swinging his bag onto his shoulder with much more force than was necessary. "I don't see why you couldn't have written some for me, you know much more about stuff boggarts."

"Yeah, 'cos my Dad doesn't know his own son's handwriting. C'mon, lets get going, if you're late too he'll make you go clean Moaning Myrtle's toilets or something."

But when they arrived at the classroom Chester was delighted to find that Remus did not punish him at all, for the werewolf was not there. Instead they found the Headmistress sitting at Remus' desk, observing students taking their seats.

"You didn't tell me it was full moon last night." Chester whispered, as they unpacked their books.

"It wasn't." Teddy replied, staring at McGonnogall as if searching for some sort of answer. "Besides, we saw him at breakfast."

When the class was settled the headmistress told them to get out their textbooks.

"Professor?" Teddy asked, raising his hand.

"Mr Lupin?" She acknowledged.

"Where's…Professor Lupin?"

She looked surprised at the question, though Teddy couldn't see why she hadn't expected it.

"If he has not seen fit to inform you about his absence already, I imagine Professor Lupin wishes to keep any explanations to himself." She said slowly, turning away to write a title on the board. "As it is, I shall be teaching this class for the foreseeable future…"

"_What_?!" Both Teddy and Chester cried, the former having jumped to his feet as the rest of the class began muttering to one another.

"Sit down, Mr Lupin." McGonnogall instructed calmly.

"But…but why?!"

"Because I refuse to teach my lesson until you take your seat."

"No, I mean why isn't he going to teach us?!"

"Yeah, where is he?" Asked another member of the class.

"You didn't sack him, did you?!" Said another.

"I hope not, he's really nice…"

"Is he coming back soon?"

"Is he ill?"

"Does this have something to do with Orion's dad?"

"Quiet, all of you!" The Headmistress silenced the numerous questions. "And _sit down_ Mr Lupin!"

Teddy was just considering doing what he was told when a voice from the back of the room made him abandon the idea.

"The governors must have come to their senses and thrown him out."

Teddy spun round to look at Orion Lynch, who sat leaning lazily back in his chair, a conceited smile upon his lips.

"Shut up!" Teddy snapped, hands balling into fists. "He's not been sacked, I saw him this morning!" When Orion's smile did not falter in the slightest Teddy suddenly felt a wave of uncertainty and he recalled Remus' questioning beside the lake, and his strange disappointment when Teddy had told him how much he liked his lessons.

"For the final time, _SIT DOWN_ Mr Lupin!"

"No!" Teddy cried without thinking. "It's not bloody fair!"

He waited for the immortal words: _Detention, Mr Lupin_, but they did not come. He glanced round at the teacher, only to see an odd expression on her face.

"No," She said quietly. "It's not." Her face hardened suddenly as her eyes came to rest on Orion, who was silently laughing. "Wipe that look off your face, Mr Lynch." She said almost coldly. "Professor Lupin will continue to teach at this school for as long as he sees fit. He will not, however, be taking this particular class."

Still deeply disappointed, but now relieved that his father still had his job this time round, Teddy sunk back into his seat.

"I'm gonna hex that bas…"

"Leave it, Ches." Teddy interrupted automatically, but he was inclined to agree with his friend. He couldn't help but sit and wonder just what he ought to do to Orion for ruining his favourite part of school.

"It's just rubbish!" Chester continued. "We don't even get taught by the Defense teacher, I think it's gonna damage my education…"

"I beg your pardon, Mr Burton?" McGonnogall had once again turned to face them.

"I…I mean…" Chester trailed off and blushed furiously. "I just think Professor Lupin's a good teacher, miss." He mumbled, only to find she smiled at him.

"Is that so? Well, I'm afraid we shall simply need to struggle along without him, Mr Burton, so perhaps you would like to open your textbook to page three hundred and two like the rest of the class? I'm sure they too are devastated, but they seem to be coping, I suggest you follow their example."

Once they had been set some reading Teddy discreetly dug around in his bag and drew out the Marauders' Map, hiding it behind his book he pointed his wand at the centre and, checking everybody else was absorbed in their reading muttered:

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

As the Marauders' message became visible Teddy smiled.

"Where's Moony?" He whispered to the Map.

The last of the Marauders was, the Map revealed, in the owlry. Teddy wiped the parchment blank and put it back in his bag.

"Professor? Professor, I need the toilet." He called, raising his hand again.

McGonnogall waved a dismissive hand at him as she continued to mark a stack of essays in front of her. With that Teddy picked up his bag, threw his belongings inside before she could notice he had no intention of returning, and then hurried from the room.

"What kind of Gryffindor are you?!"

Remus looked up from attaching a letter to an owl's leg to see his son standing in the doorway, his arms folded and his hair a odd mix of turquoise and red.

"You should be in class." He said sternly, returning his attention to the owl which he carried over to the window and watched soar off out into the morning sky.

"Coward!" Teddy accused, stamping his foot. He swallowed at the dark look that passed across his father's face and wished he hadn't said anything.

"Go back to class, Theodore." Remus told him, his voice now positively steely.

"Can't we talk about this?" Teddy asked, taking a step back as his father's expression darkened once again and this time stayed that way.

"Go back to class." Remus said again.

"But…"

"Before you land yourself in detention."

Teddy stared in stunned silence as his father looked back at him as if daring him to challenge him.

"Seriously?!" He asked, for he couldn't quite believe it was his own father standing in front of him.

"Absolutely." Came the reply. "So get back to class, and don't come looking for me like this again."

"But Dad…!"

"I'm deadly serious Teddy, if you want to talk you can come to me after lessons. Now hurry up."

Teddy turned to leave, but couldn't help but be outraged.

"You let Orion win!" He yelled angrily over his shoulder. "You're not a proper Gryffindor, you let him win and he laughed at me in front of the whole class and made me look stupid! Mum'll be mad, she said you'd both always stick up for me when it was bad, but you're not, you're leaving me! No proper dad does that! I _hate_ you!!" And, satisfied at the positively mortified and hurt expression that appeared on Remus' face at the sound of his stinging words, Teddy stormed down the stairs.


	9. Unforgivable Words

_Note: Thanks to those people who left me reviews!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Ms Rowling does._

**9: Unforgivable Words**

Remus did not stay for dinner that evening, instead he went straight home. He had been immensely cheerful that day, despite his decision not to teach the second years and his worry at how Teddy would react, for Tonks had been discharged from St Mungo's and was at home at last. But by the time he was climbing out of the fireplace in his kitchen, he felt positively gloomy. Teddy's words had hit him hard and he was struggling with the fact that he may well have been the worst father any child had ever had the misfortune of having.

"Dora?!" He called, shrugging off his robes and straightening his jumper.

"You're home early, love!" Came the cheerful reply from upstairs.

"I am!" He agreed, setting the kettle boiling with a flick of his wand. He proceeded to set the dishes washing themselves in the sink.

"Didn't you want dinner?" Her voice was suddenly closer and he turned to find her standing in the doorway.

"Thought I'd eat with you." He replied, though she got the impression that this answer was being fabricated word by word. She couldn't remember the last time he had come home for dinner. But she chose to go along with what he said, padding across the kitchen to come to stand just behind him as he reached up to select a pair of mugs from a cupboard.

"I'm glad you're back early." She told him, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head against his back.

"Mm." Came the reply.

"You make better tea than Mum."

Remus was pretty sure that it was impossible to make a cup of tea better than Andromeda Tonks, but he said nothing.

"How was work?"

He noticeably stiffened at this question, and she immediately straightened up. But when he didn't say anything, instead choosing to add the boiling water to the teapot, it became clear that work had not been all that fantastic.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"I handed the second year class over to Minerva." Remus told her.

"You what?!"

"It's what's best for Teddy."

"You think?"

"Yes." He sounded so definite that she was positive that he wasn't actually all that sure.

"And…what did you tell Teddy about it?" She asked, as he splashed milk into the mugs.

"Nothing. Teachers change often enough, he'll just have to get used to it."

"Remus…!" She scolded, hands flying to her hips.

"Don't, Dora." He told her bluntly, pouring the tea.

Tonks sighed heavily and took a seat at the table.

"You think things will be better 'cos of it?" She asked him, managing to control her anger.

"I hope so." He said, carrying the mugs over to the table and taking a seat opposite her. "I just thought…if there was some distance between Teddy and I…well maybe they might forget the whole thing."

"You'll hurt him." She told him, taking a sip of tea.

"I know." He said, recalling their encounter in the Owlry earlier. "He'll come to accept it in time." He sighed deeply and hung his head. After a short silence he admitted, "I _have_ hurt him, Dora." When she said nothing he went on. "He said I was leaving him, that no proper father did that and..."

"And...?"

Remus' head came to rest on the table in front of him and he sighed again.

"He said he hates me." He whispered miserably. He sat up suddenly and looked his wife straight in the eyes. "Dora?"

"Remus?" She replied uncertainly, biting her lip.

"Honestly, and I mean _honestly_," he said, his face deadly serious. "Am I a bad father?"

At his need to ask such a question, she felt a great surge of pain on his behalf.

"No!" She cried, grabbing hold of his hand and grasping it tightly. "You're not, you're really not! Teddy thinks the world of you! He's just upset, you're right he'll get used to it! I don't know what we're meant to do about all this, and if you think this might...might help things...then he'll learn to accept it, he'll understand Remus, he will! And you know, I think it could work! You are _not_ a bad father! You're great for him!"

Remus looked positively relieved.

"I can always take the class back anyway, if things don't get better." He reasoned, suddenly a bit more cheerful.

"Yeah, you could." She agreed enthusiastically. "It's worth a try, Teddy'll see that. Besides, there's still Duelling Club."

Duelling Club was held every week, and Teddy hadn't missed a single meeting since he had been at Hogwarts. The most popular meetings were held once a month, at which Remus invited any student cocky enough to duel the professor himself. The whole thing usually deteriorated into a mass of spells flying all over the place, bouncing off walls and narrowly missing people as students of all ages banded together to bring their teacher to his knees. For the offhand, almost lazy manner in which he deflected their lone attempts had a habit of damaging their inflated teenage egos. After a while, the students would find themselves accidentally hexing one another and, apologizes difficult to hear over the din, victims would take mock offence, leading to the whole hall becoming a battle zone in which it was every man for himself.

As the students assembled in the hall on Saturday morning, they were extra confident that Professor Lupin was about to crack under the pressure, after all his bad leg would greatly hinder his ability to dodge their spells. The older students stood in groups discussing suitable attack plans and the younger students stood expectantly at the side of the hall. Teddy watched the doors being thrown open and Remus entered, his limp a little less predominant after a good night's sleep, with his wand already in his hand as if he half expected to be attacked on sight. For a man who was naturally mild in nature and often appeared introverted, Remus had a bizarre habit of oozing an almost comic amount of self importance when making his entrance at the club. Teddy was sure that he was in fact not capable of really thinking so highly about himself in any circumstances whatsoever. It was, he had been informed by Tonks when he had told her of his father's uncharacteristic behaviour, a tribute of sorts to Sirius Black, Remus' friend who had acted in this way almost constantly in his lifetime. She said all of the Marauders lived on in Remus, and on occasion he would subconsciously mimic them. Clearly, Tonks had said, Remus thought infuriating the students highly amusing, and Teddy had to admit that he did too.

"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen!" Remus called, as he came to a halt in the centre of the room, surveying the mass of grinning faces around him. "Shall we get straight down to business? And who's first today?"

Without invitation a tall Ravenclaw boy with jet black curly hair thrust his wand forward and shouted:

"_Expelliarmus_!"

"_Protego_!" The spell rebounded off the shield Remus had thrown up without so much as a glance and the boy found his wand sailing out of his hands, landing at the professor's feet.

"This is Duelling Club, Dean, we begin duels in the customary fashion, thank you very much."

The crowd laughed and Dean grinned as he retrieved his wand. There was always one, Teddy thought as he too laughed, after over a year of this madness, Remus clearly came expecting such trickery.

"I believe you have just volunteered yourself." The werewolf told the Ravenclaw and the pair took their positions, Dean now looking a little regretful. They bowed to each other began their slow walk in opposite directions.

"Three, two, one..._go_!" Chanted the crowd.

No more than a couple of spells were cast from each side before Dean was seen to be rolling around on the floor in hysterical laughter, having been struck by a tickling jinx.

"Next!" Remus called, twirling his wand around his fingers in the usual infuriatingly lazy manner.

It had to be a record, Teddy thought, for during the second duel when a seventh year Gryffindor took to the centre of the room already a number of spells came out of nowhere, and soon chaos had ensued. To the students' great disappointment Remus still managed to block most of the attacks, that was until one did finally catch him off guard and he was knocked right off his feet, landing flat on his back. Cheering, the students hurried to disarm him and his wand became lost in the crowd. As debates began to spring up at who had cast the successful spell three of the students hurried forward to help Remus to his feet.

"Well done, rabble." He congratulated the group. "I can't deny that mass attack does seem to work incredibly well." He accepted his wand from a Hufflepuff girl with a smile. "Let's see you in pairs then, so I can tell the Headmistress you do in fact know how to do this properly."

As usual Teddy partnered Chester and as they practised Remus wandered slowly around the room helping those who were struggling and congratulating any successes. He said nothing as he passed Teddy and Chester, even when Chester threw his wand at Teddy in frustration after Teddy beat him once again.

"Your Mum's an Auror!" He complained as Teddy stuck his tongue out mockingly. "It's totally unfair!"

Their final score that morning was 4-1 to Teddy and so the young metamorphmagus was in high spirits by the time Remus told them it was time to finish. Feeling suitably worn out the two boys headed to the Great Hall for lunch, lagging behind so that Teddy could ensure Remus left ahead of them. He had no usual desire to give his father a blow by blow account of how he had beaten his best friend.

"He looks dead tired now." Chester observed almost sadly, as if he sensed something was not right just then.

"Full moon's coming." Teddy told him.

"Oh." Chester looked sharply away and did not look back until Remus had rounded the corner. "Teddy?" He asked eventually, as they continued down the corridor. "Have you ever seen...seen it happen?"

Teddy felt irritated at his friend's curiosity.

"My Dad's not a bloody circus act, Ches." He snapped.

Chester blushed shamefully.

"I know, but I just wondered..." He trailed off as Teddy glared at him. "Sorry, Ted." He mumbled

"I've not seen it." Teddy admitted. "Not even Mum sees, I think she has once or something, but he locks himself away with all protective charms and stuff, we don't see it happen. I hear him, sometimes, 'cos Mum forgets to soundproof the basement."

"What's it sound like?" Chester asked quietly.

Teddy stared at his feet as he dragged them along, scuffing his shoes.

"Like...like he's dying or something." He mumbled.

"Why? What does he do?"

Teddy could practically hear the sounds in his head and he bit his lip hard.

"He cries out," he whispered. "He called for Mum once, and he called for Padfoot too. Sometimes he screams and cries, I don't think he means to, he means to be strong but he can't sometimes, Mum says the pain's so bad it makes him hallucinate...you'd cry too if your body got ripped up!" He added angrily when he saw Chester hide his face, as if he were trying not to laugh. But when Chester looked back there was no trace of laughter, he looked positively horrified.

"Yeah, I would. Man," He whispered, glancing over his shoulder at the corridor that Remus had turned off into. "Your Dad's _well_ brave. He should be head of Gryffindor or something, don't get more of a Gryffindor than him."

Teddy bit his lip as he recalled his words the previous morning, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm gonna jinx Orion so bad, you'll see." Chester said, duelling still clear in his mind. "He'll ruin this school, he will."

"Just leave him alone, Ches." Teddy advised as they made their way down the marble staircase.

"Why? You don't!"

"Yeah and look where it gets me, my Mum ended up in hospital 'cos I practically made her have some kind of breakdown and Orion's dad shows up and ensures Dad's crippled for Merlin knows how long, and now we don't even get taught Defense by the proper teacher!"

"It couldn't get much worse though, Teddy, so who cares what we do to him?"

Teddy opened his mouth to remind Chester that any more fighting could well result in him being expelled from Hogwarts, but he wasn't sure that he cared all that much just then.

"Crucio his ass!" Chester joked, waving an invisible wand in front of him. Usually Teddy would scold such a joke, for Unforgivable Curses were quite possibly the least funny thing on Earth, both of his parents and most of their friends had encountered the horrors of these spells when fighting against Voldemort, and he knew perfectly well what had happened to Frank and Alice Longbottom. Chester was a muggle-born, and although he knew about the war, begging Remus and Tonks to tell him stories about the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter when he visited them in the holidays, he had no real connection to any of the events. When Tonks had been busy crashing down the steps at the Department of Mysteries, struck by a stunning spell, Teddy supposed Chester's mother had most likely been tucked up in bed discussing with Chester's father what colour geraniums she should plant in the front garden that year. No, Chester would never be quite as aware of such dark matters as Teddy.

But, despite his insight, today Teddy grinned.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed excitedly, swishing his own invisible wand up and down.

The boys laughed as they entered the hall and, sniggering at Orion who sat oblivious to them over at the Slytherin table, sat down at the Gryffindor table to devour a huge lunch. They always developed stomachs like black holes after Duelling Club. Suitable punishments for Orion was the topic of the day, and they plotted and schemed between mouthfuls of cheese and pickle sandwiches and cold chicken. Chester soon decided that Orion was so foul that Unforgivables were the only things horrible enough for him, and Teddy had laughed.

"Yeah, he deserves them!"

Suddenly the boys found themselves seized by the backs of their robes and pulled roughly to their feet. Chester let out a small squeak of surprise and spat out his mouthful of chicken.

The remaining Gryffindors turned to see what all the fuss was about. Some stared in surprise and others laughed as the pair were dragged from the table by Professor Lupin, whose expression was livid. The first years wondered what on earth the two boys had done wrong, for the professor looked absolutely furious. The laughter rose at the boys' feeble protests, especially Teddy's "Da-aad!!" But it stopped abruptly when Remus replied in a dangerously low tone:

"With talk like that, you're no son of mine." And with that, he hauled them from the room.


	10. Before the Moon

_Note: I guess this is just a filler-chapter, I'm sorry if it's boring!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**10: Before the Moon**

Teddy watched in silence as his father paced up and down the room, his hands clasped tightly together behind his back and his face thoughtful.

"It was a joke, sir." Chester pointed out, clearly not seeing the need to be silent as Teddy did. "We know Unforgivables are evil..."

"Do you?" Remus asked, halting abruptly and fixing the boy with a searching stare. "Do you _really_?" When Chester said nothing he turned and began to make his way towards the grindylow's tank once again.

"We didn't mean it," Chester tried again a few minutes later. "It's just...well Orion's a right idiot, and..." He trailed off as Remus looked at him again. After a while the werewolf came to a halt. He pulled open a draw of his desk and pulled out a large leather bound book, which was jet black in colour with a embossed golden phoenix shining proudly in the centre. Teddy felt his stomach give a jolt. He had seen this book before at home. It was a photo album put together by various Order members, his parents sometimes looked at it with very mournful expressions on their faces. Remus came to stand before them, opening the book at the first page, where a large group of people stood in two photographs, waving enthusiastically up at the boys with smiles on their faces. Remus turned the book so that the boys could see clearly.

"This is the first Order," he pointed at the top, more wizened photograph, then to the bottom one. "This is the second." He cleared his throat in a meaningful way before pointing to the middle of the first photograph. "There's Frank and Alice Longbottom. They're in St. Mungo's now, they were tortured to insanity by Unforgivables. There's the Potters. They died because of Unforgivables. So did those two there, they're Mrs. Weasley's brothers. That witch there? Tortured for days before she was killed, they say. And him? He died just two days after his wedding...because of Unforgivables."

Soon he had moved on to the second photograph, seemingly oblivious to the boys' deepest discomfort. "Mad-Eye, great Auror he was, struck from the sky by an Unforgivable. Severus, he's dead too. Even Dumbledore, there, he got killed by an Unforgivable. Sirius Black, you should have met him, Teddy, he was so good to me, but Bellatrix got him that time, that was an Unforgivable too. There's me and your mother. We weren't together yet. We're not hugging, there, we're like that because I couldn't stand too straight that day. I ran into Death Eaters whilst doing something for Dumbledore. What happened? Well you'd never guess!" He closed the book with a loud snap, making the boys jump. "It's funny, don't you think?"

Chester shook his head and Teddy looked down at his shoes.

"I will not hear of you talking in such an off-hand, careless manner again." Remus told them quietly. "There are plenty of people here who have lost family because of those spells, and you will not speak jokingly about them. You will, on the other hand, spend the next week in detention."

The boys nodded in silent agreement. Teddy wondered what on earth had come over him at lunch. He was suddenly feeling very sick. Remus sighed heavily and put the book down. He went to sit behind his desk.

"I'm very sorry, sir." Chester said sincerely. "I won't say another word about it, you're right it's not even a tiny bit funny."

Remus managed a rather sad smile.

"I'm sure you are, Chester. You can go now, enjoy your weekend, the pair of you. Detention will be here every night straight after dinner…starting tomorrow."

Chester did not need telling twice, he turned and hurried from the room. Teddy, on the other hand did not move a muscle, instead he watched Remus sink back into his chair, as if terribly tired.

"Run along, Teddy." His father told him. "It's mild out, good for Quidditch practice I daresay."

"Hufflepuff's booked the pitch." Teddy mumbled. "Don't want to play Quidditch anyway."

Remus _hmm_ed but said nothing.

"Dad?" Teddy shuffled forward and sat down opposite his father.

Remus looked up at him questioningly.

"You know what I said…the other day?" At his father's small nod Teddy continued. "Well….um…I didn't mean it." When he only got another nod in reply he felt compelled to add, "I'm dead sorry." And at last Remus smiled at him. Teddy got up from his chair and hurried round to throw his arms around him, glad that things were back to normal. "I totally trashed Ches at Dueling Club today!" He announced excitedly, still hugging Remus tightly.

"You did?" Remus asked, an unseen eyebrow raised at his son's terminology.

"Yeah!"

"That's my boy."

Teddy grinned over Remus' shoulder.

"He was dead mad I kept beating him, he thinks it's unfair."

"Why?"

"'Cos Mum's an Auror. He threw his wand at me. He says he'll beat me next week, but he totally won't do! I keep getting him with leg-locker curses! Did you see my leg-locker curse, Dad?"

"I did. It was brilliant. Your mother would be proud."

"I need a new strategy next week though, else he'll be getting wise to me. What d'you think?"

"I think that's a good idea."

"You gotta teach me something new, 'cos then he won't know what hit him!" At last Teddy straightened up, almost bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet in excitement. "We could do that today!" He announced cheerfully. He paused in mid-bounce at the slightly reluctant look that appeared on Remus' face.

"I'm not sure today's a good day, Teddy…" Remus said slowly, looking positively guilty.

"Why not?" Teddy's face fell.

There was a knock at the door and Madam Pomfrey entered carrying a tall, steaming goblet.

"Oh." Teddy mumbled, stepping aside as she set the goblet down on the desk with a small smile at Remus, before leaving without a word. He watched his father drain the goblet in three huge gulps before placing it firmly back down, shaking his head a little at the repulsive taste of the wolfsbane potion. Remus' eyes came to rest on his son once again, taking in the miserable look on his face. Clearly he couldn't stand being held at arms length the whole time. It _was_ the weekend, after all…

"Let's do it." He decided, heaving himself to his feet.

"No, let's not." Teddy decided, recalling how Remus had slumped back in his chair as soon as Chester was out of sight. "It's full moon tonight, you should stay here to rest and stuff."

But Remus was already halfway to the door.

"I'm not tired." He lied blatantly, but despite it being such an obvious lie Teddy was sure there would be no changing his mind.

"Are you sure?" He asked hopefully. "'Cos Mum'll go ballistic at me if she finds out I dragged you out…"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." His father told him with a mischievous grin that almost seemed to vanish the lifelessness in his eyes. "Let's get going, more time, more practice, more losses for Chester!" And with that he disappeared out of the door.

Two hours later when they took a break from a odd mix of binding charms and tap dancing jinxes Teddy had forgotten all of the problems he had been having, and he had forgotten he had ever been upset with his father at all. To his dismay, however, the days activities were clearly having a bad effect on Remus, for his walk had slowed to a clumsy stumble and his face seemed to become more drawn and weary by the minute. He seemed to still be in reasonable humor as they walked slowly back towards the office, both agreeing that a cup of tea was on the agenda.

"I think I'll be an Auror, like Mum." Teddy announced as he tried best to act oblivious to their slow pace. "You think I should, Dad? 'Cos Mum always liked it."

"It's a very dangerous job." Remus reminded him.

Teddy glanced up at him. He looked distinctly disapproving.

"Don't you think it's cool, Mum being an Auror?" He asked, surprised.

A number of expressions crossed Remus' face before he gave a strained smile.

"It's a good job." He agreed. It was true, it was a great job, he was simply not particularly fond of the mortality rate that came with it. Tonks had kept working at the Ministry to support the family, for Remus had not managed to find employment for many years. He had always seen her job as a necessity, and always wished she would give it up now he was at Hogwarts. That way he could sleep easy at night. But of course there was no telling Tonks something like that. She loved her job, so he'd just have to live with it, in fact he prided himself on his ability to cover up his misgivings.

As they walked Teddy spotted an owl flying towards them down the corridor and it came to hover just in front of them, a note attached to it's leg. Settling the owl on his arm, Remus untied the note and looked down at it, nodding to himself.

"I best go sort this now." He decided, as the owl took flight again.

"What is it?" Teddy asked, peering at the note to see his mother's curly handwriting.

"I can't go home tonight, your mother won't be around to check the wards. I'll have to stay here, get Minerva to set the wards on the office."

"And soundproof it." Teddy added, the idea of the whole school hearing the transformation making him cringe.

"Yes." Remus agreed, sounding vaguely embarrassed. He patted his son fondly on the shoulder before turning to head towards the Headmistress' office.

It was ten minute later that Teddy made his big mistake, though he didn't know it at the time. He'd gone to find Chester outside sorting through his Chocolate Frog Cards, and mentioned in passing that Remus would be at the school during the full moon. Chester had simply grinned and claimed it was "a little dodgy."

It was a sad fact that not everybody would see it that way.


	11. Out in the Rain

_Note: Thank you to my reviewers! What a great bunch of people you are )_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**11: Out in the Rain**

"_Take Dad a cup of tea, love, I bet he'd love a cup of tea, wouldn't he?"_

It was what Tonks said every morning after a full moon at home. Teddy always dreaded her saying it, for he hated to go down into the basement to find his father propped up against the wall, as pale as a ghost, his figure slumped as if he could not hold himself up successfully. But he always went, for Remus would smile and ask him if he slept well, just like any other morning, and Tonks was right about the tea. He would take tiny sips, and look a little better for each one.

And so Teddy had rose early the next morning, before anybody else in his dormitory, and crept out of Gryffindor Tower and through the castle. He headed to the Defence office, for if Tonks wasn't there, who would make his father a cup of tea? He would, of course.

He found Professor Flitwick standing outside the office, as if on guard.

"Good morning, Mr Lupin!" He greeted cheerfully, as the boy approached.

"Good morning Professor." Teddy replied. "Is my Dad okay in there?"

"I should think so," Flitwick replied. "I heard movement a while back."

"Has anybody been in to check?"

"No, not until we get the signal."

As if on cue a series of knocks sounded on the door behind the tiny wizard, making him jump slightly. "There we are, he's just fine!" He assured Teddy, turning to the door with his wand raised. Teddy listened to him muttered a long list of incantations before reaching to open the door a little, sticking his head around it.

"Your son's an early riser too, Remus." Teddy heard him announce.

Remus' reply was much too quiet for the boy to hear, but Flitwick turned and beckoned to Teddy. "I best go tell Professor McGonnogall he's alright, you go in Teddy and keep him company a while."

Teddy did as he was told and went into the office, pushing the door firmly shut behind him.

"Six o'clock on a Sunday?" A hoarse voice asked, and Teddy turned to see his father sat sprawled on the floor, leaning against the armchair before the empty fireplace.

"Yeah," The boy agreed, with a grin. "Somebody's gotta make you a cup of tea, remember?" He drew his wand from the pocket of his jeans and looked about for the kettle, but couldn't see it anywhere. He looked at Remus expectantly, but found he had let his eyes drift closed.

"Kettle, Dad?" He ventured.

"Are you a wizard or not?" Came the croaky reply.

"Oh….yeah…." Teddy cleared his throat and raised his wand. "Accio kettle!" He tried, trying to mimic the leisurely flick that seemed to serve his father so well. Nothing happened. "Accio kettle!!" He tried again, frowning again when nothing happened. "Da-_ad_!" He complained, lowering his wand. "It won't work, besides I never got taught accio yet…"

"James, Sirius and I learnt it first year. It's dead useful, you should practice."

"Yeah, but I'm not some Marauder genius like you guys!"

"Practice, Teddy. It's just practice."

"Yeah…so where's the kettle?"

Remus raised a blind arm and pointed over at the bookcase beside the grindylow tank.

After a short inspection of the area Teddy discovered the kettle hiding behind a stack of battered looking textbooks. After filling it with water and setting it down to boil he turned his attention back to his father, who appeared not to have moved at all.

"I reckon you'd be more comfy sitting _in_ the chair, Dad." He said, pulling his sleeves down over his hands as he added, "it's pretty cold in here, too." He drew out his wand and pointed at the fireplace. "Incendio!" He muttered, and flames burst into life in the grate, crackling cheerfully. "You see that, Dad? Didn't singe anything!"

"'S good." Remus mumbled.

Teddy reached down to shake his shoulder.

"You gonna sit in the chair now, Dad?" He asked, as Remus at last opened his eyes again.

"Mm." The werewolf agreed, and he began to struggle to his feet with Teddy trying best to keep him upright. Once in the chair he closed his eyes again, as if exhausted. Teddy left him as the kettle began to whistle, and made two cups of tea.

Remus drank the tea whilst it was scalding hot, as if attempting to burn the roughness from his throat, and as usual he looked better for it.

"What are you and Chester up to today?" He asked his son, a touch of colour beginning to appear in his pallid skin.

"Quidditch!" Teddy announced excitedly as he dragged a chair closer to the fire and sat down in it. "You've got to come see us, Dad, we're getting really good! I think we'll try for the team when they call for try-outs after Christmas!"

"I'll come see later." Remus assured him, taking another sip of tea

"I dunno Dad, maybe you should come another day."

"We'll see."

Teddy cleared his throat in what he hoped sounded like a disapproving way, but Remus chose to ignore it. Instead he drained his cup and set it down on the sideboard.

"You're a good boy." He told Teddy, leaning back in his chair with a contented sigh. "Now run along and wake Chester, get some practice before breakfast."

"You coming to breakfast later, Dad?"

"No."

"I'll bring you some up then. Like Mum does."

And before Remus could protest Teddy had got to his feet, patted his father somewhat gingerly on the arm before hurrying off to wake up Chester.

To Teddy's relief, Remus did not come to watch him practice Quidditch with Chester that day, instead he promised to go on Tuesday afternoon, once he had marked the fifth years' vampire essays. The sky threatened rain on Tuesday, it was a mass of murky grey clouds, but Teddy and Chester didn't mind, they went out anyway. After only an hour, however, it began to rain heavily and Chester complained so much that Teddy soon agreed that they should get back inside and find a warm fire to huddle in front of. As they trudged through the now sodden grounds Teddy noticed a lone figure striding up the main path from the school's gates, towards the castle. Whoever it was seemed to be in a hurry, but Teddy got the impression that this was not because of the rain. Their heavy footfalls crunched the gravel under a pair of expensive-looking leather boots. They were stomping along as if angry, as a dark navy cloak billowed out behind them.

"That's not a teacher." Chester observed quietly as the boys reached the path, disturbing the gravel too as they walked a few meters behind the stranger. The person stopped abruptly at the sound of movement behind them and turned to look at the two sodden Gryffindors. It was then that Teddy recognised him. Vincent Lynch had darker hair than his son Orion, but his skin was a pasty white. Teddy thought he looked like a vampire, the elaborate clothes encouraging this idea.

"Good afternoon, Mr Lynch, sir." Teddy forced himself to say, trying not to sound nervous, for Lynch Senior gave him the creeps.

"You're the son, aren't you?!" Lynch spat, his disgust clear on his face.

"Chester…why don't…um…you pop up to McGonnagall's office, tell her Mr Lynch is here?" Teddy suggested, taking a small step backwards. He wasn't quite sure why but he felt suddenly afraid. He was, however determined not to show it so he straightened up and offered the fuming adult his politest smile.

"To what does Hogwarts owe the pleasure, Mr Lynch?" He tried, as the man continued to scowl.

"Oh it's no pleasure, boy, I can assure you!" Thundered Lynch, as Chester muttered something about McGonnogall and hurried away up the path. "Bloody werewolf in a school at full moon! I'll see to that, just you wait!" And with that Lynch turned and continued up the path.

"Who told you that?" Teddy asked, trying his best not to sound too despairing.

Lynch ignored him.

"It was perfectly safe, Mr Lynch, there was wolfsbene and wards, and guards!" Teddy tried to explain, struggling to keep up as rain continued to soak him to the skin.

But Lynch seemed to find this even more infuriating.

"To think Orion was here whilst that _monster_…!!"

"My dad is NOT a monster!" Teddy heard himself shout, anger erupting through him instantly at Lynch's words. "He's a better man than you, that's for sure! Trying to start a wizard duel in the middle of a school?! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Suddenly Lynch halted abruptly again and spun round to face the boy, pulling his wand from his pocket and pointing it directly at Teddy's face.

Teddy froze. He immediately felt himself begin to tremble and his pulse began to raise in panic.

"Your father," Lynch hissed, his milky eyes gleaming menacingly. "Is the sort of filth that disgraces the whole wizarding world! And any brats of his like you ought to be drowned at birth!" And with that he drew back his wand and drew breath, ready to strike.

Teddy screwed his eyes shut in fear and held his breath.


	12. Aurors

Note: This chapter is dedicated to Ramona-Theta, who gives me lovely reviews and brightens up my day!

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**12: Aurors**

"_Silencio_!" A voice shouted, and there was silence as commanded.

Teddy slowly dared to open one eye to find Lynch still standing with his wand ready, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Take three paces back from him, and put the wand on the ground." The same voice instructed, and Teddy opened his other eye and looked over Lynch's shoulder to find his father standing at the bottom of the steps leading up to the castle doors, wand raised. With a begrudging scowl Lynch did as he was told.

"You will wait exactly where you are until the Aurors arrive." Remus told him, and with a mutter a great silvery light erupted from his wand.

As the patronus shot off into the distance Lynch spun round to shout his disapproval only for no words to come out. It would appear that the professor got the gist of what he was saying, however for he looked disbelieving and said:  
"If you think you can draw your wand on a twelve year old child out of sheer malice and not have me send for the Aurors, you're even more cracked that I first thought." With a neat flick of his wand he had summoned Lynch's wand from the ground and pocketed it. "Not that I'd expect much more from a former Death Eater." He added coldly. Teddy couldn't help but flinch but he found himself still frozen to the spot.

"Do you recognise this place?" Remus asked as Lynch continued to glower at him, eyes ablaze with hatred. "This is the same sport as all those years ago. You were right there, you lost your wand that day too." He took a few steps forward and Teddy found a horribly cold look on his face. "You tried to curse my wife." Remus recalled icily. "Now you try to curse my son." His wand came to point at Lynch's throat, and Teddy felt a terrible sick feeling twisting his insides. For a brief moment he was afraid his father was about to do something foolish. The look on his face showed that he was clearly considering it. Suddenly his expression altered slightly and then an almost pitying smile touched Remus' lips. "You've threatened the son of an Auror." He told Lynch, as if he was only just realising this fact himself. "I get the feeling that the walls of Azkaban will be all you see for a long while, if she has anything to do with it."

And then, as if on cue, heavy footsteps were heard and Teddy looked round to see a trio of scarlet-clad figures sprinting up the path towards them

"Auror Division!" Bellowed the middle figure as they came to a skidding halt, spraying pebbles in all directions. "Drop the wand!" And with that Remus' wand flew through the air and into a young male Auror's outstretched hand. He grinned, looking pleased with his entrance until the witch next to him sighed in exasperation.

"For Merlin's sake, Robert! We're not after him, we're after the crazed idiot gawping like a goldfish in the middle!"

Teddy couldn't help but grin at the sound of the witch's voice as Robert looked deeply embarrassed.

"Oh…yeah. Sorry about that, Tonks." He mumbled.

"Don't say sorry to me!" Tonks cried, her hair flashing red under her hood. "Give him back his bloody wand!"

Robert shuffled over to Remus and handed the wand back, looking sheepish.

"I'm new." He explained quietly, relieved when Remus smiled at him.

The third Auror, a tall dark haired man with glasses muttered something and cords sprung forth and bound the accused tightly. The Auror looked down at Teddy and grinned.

"Hi Teddy!" He greeted, reaching to push his glasses up his nose.

"Hi Harry!" Teddy smiled shyly at his Godfather.

Harry reached into his robes and drew out a roll of parchment. The rain seemed to be repelled off of it's surface.

"You want to do this one, Tonks?" He asked cheerfully, holding out the parchment for her to take.

"Absolutely!" Tonks agreed, taking the parchment. She cleared her throat in a serious manner and began to read the charges.

"Vincent Bartholomew Edward Lynch…" She began, but Teddy did not wait to listen. Feeling relief at last he sprinted over to his father and threw his arms around him. At the crushingly tight hug Remus bestowed upon him, it began to dawn on Teddy what exactly had just happened. What if Remus hadn't have chosen to come and watch Quidditch right then? The very thought brought tears to the boy's eyes and he was soon sobbing into the folds of his father's robes.

"It's okay, you're safe Teddy." Remus told him softly, his voice shaking ever so slightly. Clearly the same thought process was running through his mind too, he clung to the child as if his life depended on it.

Suddenly an enraged shriek pierced their ears and the two Lupin males looked over to find the third member of their family looking as though she was about to spit fire.

"My boy?!" She shouted, having reached the details of the accusation. "After we fine you for an unprovoked attack on MY husband, you draw your wand on MY boy?! I ought curse you into the next life!!" She had her wand raised and stood seething, her hair the brightest of reds.

"Tonks…let's try keep this professional, yeah?" Harry suggested somewhat pleadingly as Robert rested a feeble hand on her shoulder. Harry began to wish he'd told her what exactly Remus' patronus had explained before they had arrived. When she failed to lower her wand Harry looked over at Remus and mouthed, "little help?", his green eyes rather desperate.

"Dora…?" Remus tried, his grip on Teddy loosening slightly as he straightened up.

Tonks slowly lowered her wand, shoved the parchment back to Harry, and stalked over to her family. She reached into her pocket and drew out a handkerchief and offered it to her son in silence. As Teddy dabbed at his eyes between sniffs she scrutinized him as if looking for any damage.

"He's okay." Remus told her quietly, causing her to let out a huge sigh of relief and throw her arms around the pair of them, making Teddy stumble.

"We'll take him, Tonks." Harry decided, waving his wand in a wipe sweeping motion, making the cords drag Lynch backwards towards him. "I'll tell Kingsley you went home sick, yeah?"

"Cheers, Harry." Tonks called, managing a smile.

And with that, Harry and Robert began to stride away down the path, dragging Vincent Lynch behind them.


	13. Chewing Gum

_Note: Thanks to all my reviewers!! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**13: Chewing Gum**

Teddy sat on his bed, staring at the robes that had been lain down on the chair in the corner, neatly pressed and spotless. He had looked forward to spending the day at home with his mother, but as time ticked on he wished he was back at school. He recalled miserably how often he had asked Tonks to take him to the Ministry and show him where she worked. Now he was finally going to get the chance to do just that, but he wished he was going anywhere but there. The door of the room opened and Tonks entered carrying a tray of food.

"I'm not hungry." Teddy told her as she put it down on the bedside table.

"Yes, but you have to try and have a bit of breakfast, Teddy." She told him, perching on the bed next to him.

"I don't want to. I don't want to do anything."

Tonks sighed and her hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"Are you worried about this afternoon?" She asked, though she already knew that he was.

Teddy nodded miserably.

"You don't have to worry about it, Teddy. Dad and I will be there waiting for you, and when you go in Kingsley's going to be in charge. You know Minister Shacklebolt, he's been round for dinner, remember?"

Teddy nodded, but didn't seem very assured.

"He'll be the one asking the questions, and Harry's going to be there too, because he made the arrest."

"So did you, why can't you be there? You're the Head of Aurors, Harry's not!" Teddy complained unhappily.

"'Cos I'm too closely related to you. It'll be just fine, everybody knows Lynch is guilty as hell, they just have to give him a trial anyway, that's all. You just gotta answer Kingsley's questions nice and clearly and then you can come back out and sit with me, and wait whilst Dad goes and tells them what he saw, and then we can go home. You won't even _see_ Lynch."

"Orion's gonna kill me." Teddy pointed out. His mother grinned somewhat wickedly.

"Oh I don't know about that. He'll not want to remind everybody his dad's just got himself locked up. Besides, even if he does try anything…you can always ask Dad to tell you about the chewing gum."

Teddy looked up at her questioningly, waiting for her to explain what she meant, but her grin merely broadened and she got to her feet. "Now eat up, and get those robes on, try not to crease them, you have no idea how long it took me to get them looking like that!"

When the Lupin family arrived at the Ministry of Magic an hour later, Teddy still felt nervous about the upcoming trial, but tried to keep himself occupied as Tonks pointed out various things to him as they made their way towards the courtroom.

"That was where the Fountain of Magical Brethren stood, before the Department of Mysteries Battle. It's a tribute to the Order of the Phoenix and the others who died in the wars now." She had explained, pointing to a huge statue of a man with a long beard, his arm stretched towards the ceiling with a phoenix spreading it's wings as if about to take flight. Shifting letters on a plaque at the man's feet listed names of the war dead, as well as messages of praise for the Order.

"That's Dumbledore, of course." Tonks was saying, smiling up at the towering statue. They continued past as the monument as the letters on the plaque shifted from "Severus Snape" to "Sirius Black". Teddy watched his father's gaze fall quickly to the floor and Tonks' grip of her husband's hand was seen to tighten. The mood seemed to silently become more sombre and Tonks' commentary ceased. She did not say another word until they were outside of the courtroom. Remus sat down on a stone bench and pulled Teddy down to sit down next to him. Tonks smiled at them both, straightened her scarlet Auror robes, which were adorned with the black trimming of the Ministry's Heads of Departments.

"I'm going to go check how early we are." She announced brightly, and with that she turned and pushed the door open, and disappeared into the gloomy room beyond.

Immediately Teddy turned to his father and voiced a question he had been burning to ask all day:

"Dad, will you tell me about the chewing gum?"


	14. Court, Kisses and Comeupoances

_Note: Okay, this chapter is longer than the previous one! That was just a bit of a filler…_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**14: Court, Kisses and Comeuppances **

His father pushed the door open for him and nodded encouragingly as Teddy slowly walked into the courtroom. It was deathly quiet, yet he could feel the numerous eyes of the witches and wizards of the Wizengamot peering down at him as he walked to the centre of the room and sat down. Teddy looked up to see the Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and found he too was staring at him. Harry sat a few seats to Kingsley's left, he seemed to be the only one who was not staring. The boy gripped the arms of his chair and found himself holding his breath a little as Kingsley stood up.

"This court is now in session." He announced in his smooth, low voice as he looked around the room. His eyes came to rest on Teddy once again as he continued. "Before us is Theodore Remus Lupin. Is that correct?"

There was a long silence and it occurred to Teddy that he had been asked a question.

_Speak nice and clearly, and keep it simple_, Tonks had advised.

"Yes, that is correct." He said, still gripping hold of the chair.

Kingsley's face seemed to soften and he even smiled a little.

"Could you tell us what happened on the day in question please, Theodore?" He asked.

"Well…um…I went out to the Quidditch pitch with my friend Chester and we played there for a bit, but then it started raining so we decided to go back inside…." The more he spoke the easier the words came to him and soon Teddy found he could explain what had happened with great ease. He even felt pride at telling the court how Remus had arrived just in time to save the day. Before long Kingsley was telling him he could leave and Harry was giving him the thumbs up. He left wondering what he had been worrying about.

_Mum was right_, he thought happily to himself, _Kingsley's a nice guy_.

The sight that met him outside made him cringe.

"Mu-_uum_!" He complained loudly, screwing his eyes shut. "For Merlin's sake this is a court of law! You can't just sit there like…._that_!"

"I'm the Head of Aurors, I'll do whatever I want!" Tonks told him indignantly, her head coming to rest on her husband's shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around him as the werewolf laughed. When his parents showed no sign of untangling themselves any second soon Teddy shuffled over to sit on the bench beside them, and kept his eyes firmly on the ground. It was ridiculous, he complained silently. What would people think if they were to come out that door and find his mother sat on his father's lap doing…_all that_?! Besides, surely they were too _old_ anyway, and his dad was just _laughing_! Marauder or not, he ought to know better!

To his relief a minute later Remus saw fit to set Tonks firmly on her feet and get up to take his own turn in the courtroom chair. Once Tonks had sat back down besides him, Teddy decided to try and do something useful with his time. He got out his wand and began practicing a flicking motion and mouthing a spell under his breath. Tonks observed him for a minute in silence before speaking.

"That's not what I think it is, is it?" She asked, looking mildly amused.

Teddy paused to grin at her.

"It's willpower that does the trick, Dad says." He told her, making her grin back mischievously. "But I've nothing to try it on for real."

Tonks shrugged happily.

"I'm sure you'll find something…or someone…when you get back to school."

Teddy found himself giggling. He suddenly felt that he had justification for any bad behaviour he should ever be caught doing. He was the son of Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, who understood very little about the concept of rules, and Remus Lupin, the last of the infamous Marauders. If that didn't explain something, he didn't know what did.

January

As Teddy made his way down his dormitory staircase he felt like cheering. He was about to rush over to Chester and announce the great news Tonks had written to him with, that Lynch would be in Azkaban for at least a year after his appeal had fallen through, ("_long enough for the evil scum to loose his mind_"), when he noticed the great crowd around the notice board in the corner of the common room.

"Teddy!!" Chester raced over to him, grinning like a boy possessed. "We did it! We did it!! Gryffindor Beaters!!"

Teddy simply stared.

Teddy jumped off the stairs with a loud whoop and punched the air in triumph.

"This is _so_ cool!" He cried, hopping from foot to foot in excitement. He suddenly began to dash towards the portrait hole. "I gotta tell Dad!!" And with that he disappeared from the room and began to sprint through the castle. Upon arriving at Remus' office he barged through the door with enough of a racket to wake the dead. But as usual Remus did not so much as blink. He simply continued to scrawl notes at the bottom of a first year's essay.

"Dad!!" Teddy's voice was so very animated that Remus put down his quill and graced the boy with his full attention. "I made the team!!" Teddy shouted, and he caught sight of the delighted smile that spread across Remus' face before throwing his arms around his father.

"Of course you did." Remus told him happily. "I had no doubt at all, you practiced so hard…"

"You must write to Mum and tell her!" Teddy interrupted, practically bursting with excitement.

"Oh I will. I'll do it right now!" And true to his word, as soon as Teddy had bounced back out of the room to tell anybody who would listen about his appointment, Remus abandoned his work and wrote to Tonks instead.

Teddy stayed cheerful all morning, but as he walked to Charms that afternoon his day got even better. He was pausing to cram a wad of chewing gum into his mouth, something he had been doing ritually every hour for several months now, when a voice from behind him made him grin.

"Hey Lupin!" Orion Lynch called as he came to a halt behind the metamorphmagus who appeared oblivious as he stood chewing absent-mindedly. "Is it true you have to sleep on the floor at home? 'Cos your dad tore up your mattress with his teeth?"

Teddy calmly turned around, discreetly drawing his wand.

"Orion! Hi!" He smiled pleasantly, making the Slytherin look slightly taken aback. "You want some chewing gum?"

Orion sneered.

"What are you on about? Why would I want anything that you've had? You're _barking_!"

Several Slytherins behind him laughed, but after a second Orion soon had nothing to laugh about.

Teddy spat the gum out and gave his wand a neat flick, shouting:

"_Waddiwasi_!"

The gum shot forward with the force of a bullet from a gun, straight up Orion Lynch's nose. As laughter erupted from every student in the corridor Teddy joined in. Things were looking up, he thought as he side-stepped Orion, who appeared to be going purple, and made his way to class.

**Finish**


End file.
